107 – The Anomaly and the Main God of Light

【Of course, you have also considered one possibility. That is, the anomaly is the Main God of Light… However, you do not dare to accept this guess. Because if it turns out to be true, then you may never be able to complete the group task and can only wait for death to come.】

【Next, after discussing, you plan to carry out an assassination attempt on the Light Pope. You wait for an opportunity when the Light Pope is alone, and finally find a chance during one of his missionary outings to make your move.】

【You go all out, launching the most ferocious attack on him. However, despite your fierce assault, the Pope remains composed and effortlessly fends off your combined attacks. You are all deeply troubled, but there is no way out at this point, so you can only fight desperately.】

【Ultimately, you harden your heart and directly use the second technique of the Five Elements Fusion Technique · Five Elements as One, followed by a close-range self-detonation.】

【Your self-detonation is terrifying; even the Pope is severely injured. Then, Chen Yao and the others join forces to attack, and finally manage to kill the Pope once. And you also revive after that.】

【However, the most despairing thing happens… The Pope revives again, mocking your overconfidence, and then uses the power of the Main God of Light. In the face of this divine power, you are easily suppressed and all killed.】

【Because of your death, this simulation ends.】

“Through this simulation, there is a probability of over 90% that the Pope is the anamolous presence… This is good news. However, the fact that he is unkillable is quite troubling.”

Wang Ping opened his eyes, frowning deeply and feeling quite a headache.

Moreover, the power bestowed by the Main God of Light is also a huge trouble.

Although he did not grow significantly in this simulation, Chen Yao, Zhang Hu, Qin Tian, and Lin Yuanyuan all became much stronger. Their combined strength was truly formidable.

However, even this combination was easily handled by the Pope, and it took his self-detonation to kill the Pope once.

After killing the Pope, the opponent was able to revive and even used the power of the Main God of Light to kill them all.

The power this guy holds is truly terrifying.

Wang Ping suspected that even if he claimed the rewards of a paid simulation, he probably wouldn’t be able to defeat him.

“Brother Wang, how did it go?”

Seeing Wang Ping open his eyes, the others all looked over, with Zhang Hu being the most impatient to ask.

“Team wipeout.” Wang Ping shook his head and said.

“I knew it… A complete wipeout… I knew it wouldn’t succeed in one go.” Zhang Hu sighed.

Chen Yao and Qin Tian also shook their heads helplessly.

Only Lin Yuanyuan remained silent, not knowing what to say. After all, she was a newcomer, participating in a mission for the first time, and previously had a disagreement with Wang Ping.

“It is what it is for now.” Wang Ping sighed lightly, then detailed the contents of the Life Simulator to everyone.

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Goodness, this development has a touch of historical recurrence.

In addition to this…
Chen Yao, Qin Tian, and Zhang Hu all gave Lin Yuanyuan a subtle look, understanding why Wang Ping had just looked at her in such a strange way.

Especially Qin Tian, who silently moved his chair a bit away from her.

Lin Yuanyuan: “…”

This Golden Finger… She really didn’t want to talk about it.

But, Wang Ping’s Golden Finger is indeed annoying, exposing her just like that…

“Through this simulation, we can see a high probability that the Pope is the anomaly. Those fanatical believers might also be influenced by his ability. Additionally, unlike the previous anomaly, he possesses immense combat strength, is protected by the Main God of Light, and has the backing of the strongest organization, the Church of Light. Dealing with him will be extremely troublesome.”

Wang Ping skipped the small talk and got straight to the point.

“Furthermore, this anomaly has the ability to revive, but we do not yet understand the mechanics of his resurrection. Without knowing this, we might find it hard to truly kill him.”

“It’s indeed troublesome but… thinking isn’t my strong suit, so I’ll leave it to you guys to analyze.”

Zhang Hu smiled bitterly, admitting his limitations outright.

“The last anomaly used its followers to revive. So, could this be a similar ability, or a comparable one? That is, reviving through followers… As long as the followers aren’t dead, he won’t perish?”

Qin Tian rubbed his chin, seriously analyzing.

“That makes sense. In fact, I also believe it could be such an ability. However, there’s another significant possibility… That is, the power of faith. He might be reviving through the power of faith. If we can destroy his faith or exhaust his accumulated power of faith, maybe we can kill him for good.”

Wang Ping nodded, supplementing his analysis.

“Of course, this is currently just speculation. To confirm it, we’ll need to experiment. However, we have plenty of opportunities, so there is no need to be too anxious.”

“The resurrection principle speculation, as Brother Wang mentioned… But his combat power is so strong and his identity is so special, how are we supposed to kill him?”

Chen Yao said with some frustration.

“To be honest, I can’t stay too long in this world either. Our world would fall apart without me. If I’m gone too long, the demons will definitely start causing trouble again. And in our world, the number of demon kings and commanders actually exceeds the warriors of equivalent strength on our side.”

“Sister Yao, I understand your feelings. But things like this can’t be rushed. Also, even if we grow as strong as we did in the future, with five-on-one we still couldn’t take down the Pope. It took Brother Wang’s self-detonation to kill him once. If we don’t improve our strength, even if we crack his resurrection mechanism, killing him would be unrealistic. Forcibly making a move would be suicidal.”

Qin Tian advised, shaking his head slightly.

“I know.” Chen Yao said helplessly. “I just mean that we should try to be faster. Moreover, we don’t necessarily have to rely solely on our own strength to deal with the Pope. We can also collaborate with the local warriors of this world. Truth be told, there are quite a few strong warriors here.”
“Chen Yao makes a very good point. Although the Sword Gods and Magic Gods of this world can’t match Brother Wang individually, when they join forces, they’re quite troublesome. If we can win over the seven Sword Gods and six Magic Gods of this world, and join forces with experts from other churches to deal with the Church of Light, the chance of successfully killing the Light Pope is considerable.”

Zhang Hu’s eyes shone brightly as he spoke.

“Have you forgotten about the existence of the Main God of Light?” Lin Yuanyuan said quietly.

At these words, Qin Tian and Zhang Hu were instantly at a loss for words.

Alright, the Main God of Light is indeed the most troublesome existence.

They simply didn’t want to face this guy. Even the power granted to the Light Pope by this deity was enough to cause headaches.

“Brother Wang, what do you think?” Qin Tian looked at Wang Ping and found that Wang Ping seemed to be deep in thought, so he couldn’t help but ask.

“I am considering whether the Pope’s power is also related to the power of faith. Additionally, the amount of faith power the Light Pope can wield might be linked to the strength of this faith power. If there’s really a connection, taking him down would be much simpler.”

Wang Ping glanced around at the group, narrowed his eyes, and slowly began to speak.

Faith power is indeed a peculiar thing; it can gather immense power very easily.

But it can also disappear just as easily.

Deities who ascend through faith are the most unstable.

Once the faith is gone, they’ll vanish as well.

A famous example is the deities of Fusang. Fusang claims to have eight million deities, where anything can be deified.

However, many deities from Fusang depicted in anime have disappeared in later generations because people stopped believing in them. They’ve disappeared almost completely, with only a few surviving in a weakened state.

Even then, their power is extremely diminished.

This is the instability of faith—it can make you an invincible deity or leave you pathetically weak.

“Indeed, I think his powers might all be connected to faith. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to possess a unique existence like the Pope. Because the Light Pope can easily gather faith power.”

Qin Tian’s eyes lit up.

“But the believers have faith in the Main God of Light, what’s that got to do with him? Moreover, why hasn’t the Main God of Light noticed that the Pope possessing His power is being controlled? How can the Pope even use His power?”

Chen Yao asked with a frown.

“There are three possibilities. First, there’s an anomaly entity that even the Main God of Light at such a high level can’t easily detect. The second possibility is that the Main God of Light is aware of the anomaly entity and has chosen to cooperate with it, competing for faith in the lower realm.”

Wang Ping raised three fingers and spoke slowly.

“As for the last one… you can all probably guess but are reluctant to think about it. That is, the Main God of Light itself is the anomaly entity and has grown to this terrifying extent. The Light Pope is just a dog.”

At these words, Qin Tian and Chen Yao fell silent.

Zhang Hu’s face changed drastically.

Lin Yuanyuan remained silent throughout, practically invisible.

“Of course, the possibility of the Main God of Light being possessed by an anomaly entity is very small. If the Main God of Light really is an anomaly entity, it would be something completely beyond our ability to handle. I believe the chat group wouldn’t send us to our deaths. Although the previous missions were also dangerous, we were actually able to complete them quite easily.”

Wang Ping looked at the others and changed his tone, offering some comfort.

“…”

Upon hearing this, Chen Yao, Qin Tian, and Zhang Hu all laughed bitterly.

Won’t send them to their deaths?

That’s not certain.

Everyone who understands the nature of this chat group knows that it really doesn’t care about the survival of the transmigrators it nurtures.

If it did care, it wouldn’t let so many transmigrators die, nor would it arrange so many dangerous mandatory tasks.

Worst of all, the group rewards are quite scant.

While group points are fairly good, there are very few items available for purchase, and they are too expensive.

Therefore, despite completing group tasks, their strength didn’t increase much. Only Liu Mei was fortunate enough to gain a stripped-down version of an anomaly ability.

“Wars over faith have occurred in history as well. In fact, I have some doubts about the historical stories too…”

At this moment, Chen Yao seemed to recall something and spoke quietly.

“Why was the Main God of Light the first to manifest miracles and eliminate the Dark Magic God Moos and its scourge of the undead? In theory, other Main Gods could have easily done the same. And why did the gods withdraw their blessings from their believers? The reason shouldn’t be as simple as recorded in history books. And why have the gods rarely manifested miracles since then? This also led to the subsequent decline of the Church of Light.”

“Regarding this matter, I’ve actually pondered it as well. I can link a few reasons as speculations from an author’s perspective, though I don’t know if they are correct.”

Wang Ping looked at Chen Yao and responded with a smile.

“Oh, Brother Wang is actually an online author?”

Qin Tian’s eyes took on a peculiar look.

“Before transmigrating, I wrote books, although the results weren’t very ideal. However, I’ve read widely, and my imagination is quite strong.”
Wang Ping spoke very casually.

“Uh, only mediocre authors would stubbornly claim they’re not inferior to others…” Qin Tian murmured.

“What did you say?” Wang Ping’s face twitched as he looked at Qin Tian with a murderous glare.

“I didn’t say anything.” Qin Tian said awkwardly.

“Pfft.” Listening to their conversation, Chen Yao couldn’t help but laugh.

Instantly, the atmosphere eased considerably.

“Brother Wang, what’s your speculation?” Zhang Hu pressed on.

“When the Light Chief God first manifested a miracle, according to the usual trope, it likely was a rogue act done behind the gods’ backs. This act garnered him a large amount of faith power, thus elevating his power above the other chief gods. Although the other gods were very angry, coupled with the Light Chief God’s righteous proclamations about caring for the people of the lower realm, they had nothing much to say in the end.

“After that, the gods set rules prohibiting gods from descending to the lower realm easily or manifesting miracles lightly. They also required withdrawing powers to allow freedom of faith among the beings of the lower realm. This aimed to resolve the Church of Light’s monopoly on faith. However, due to the Light Chief God’s strong arguments, only the Light Pope and the Light Saintess were allowed to use the power granted by the Light Chief God under specific circumstances.

“Later on, as faith became more liberalized and miracles ceased to appear, the Church of Light fell into decline. Combined with the influence of the Dragon Tribe, the Church’s status dropped, and faith diversified once again.

“In the future, when the strange entity possesses the Pope, he undertakes a series of actions for the sake of faith. I also suspect that the Dark God of Magic, who appears later, might be related to him, and possibly related to the rogue act of the Light Chief God. After all, he manifested another miracle. It could also be that the strange entity amplified the power granted by the Light Chief God through faith power.

“Simultaneously, the invasion of the Demon Tribe might also be his guidance. These two major events successfully spread faith in the Light Chief God across the entire continent, becoming unusually fervent.

After Wang Ping finished speaking, he took a light breath and silently downed the fine wine in his cup, moistening his throat.

“(⊙o⊙)…” After Wang Ping finished, everyone looked at Wang Ping in shock and dumbstruck.

Good heavens, your imagination knows no bounds.

“Brother Wang, no wonder you write novels, impressive.”

Qin Tian teased.

“In such a short time, you’ve concocted so many stories. I even think it could entirely serve as a central plot for a western fantasy novel. Though a bit clichéd, still no flaws.”

“Agreed.” Chen Yao said silently.

“My brother Wang from society, just pure awesomeness.” Zhang Hu laughed and continued to flatter.

“Stop flattering me. Do you guys think there’s any sense in my speculation?”

Wang Ping covered his forehead and spoke.

“To be honest, I think it makes a lot of sense, nothing wrong with the logic. We don’t know the calculations of the gods, but analyzing with historical events, the probability of such a truth surpasses 50%.”

Chen Yao said earnestly.

“I think so too.” Qin Tian nodded.

“However, Brother Wang, with your analysis, I’m growing more anxious. If your speculation holds, the chance that the Light Chief God isn’t the strange entity is greater. But the Light Chief God knowing that the Light Pope is possessed by a strange entity and still allowing it, even granting more privileges, is higher. For example, permitting him to use faith power to manifest miracles.”

Pausing, Qin Tian smiled bitterly.

“This also explains why the Light Chief God’s miracles reappeared. Logically, after his first rogue act, he would be closely monitored and couldn’t privately descend. Only the Light Pope could achieve such things with his ‘abilities,’ leaving the other gods powerless to speak against it.”

“Exactly. If my guess is correct, this is the second worst scenario: the Pope is a strange entity, the Light Chief God knows this but, for immense faith power, chooses to indulge and even protect him.”

Wang Ping leaned against the chair and spoke indifferently.

“…”

Hearing this, everyone fell silent, even Lin Yuanyuan could perceive how troublesome the issue was.

“Then, what should we do?”

Zhang Hu said, visibly troubled.

“With the rogue-like Light Chief God around, it’s too challenging to take down the Light Pope. Let alone confirming if his resurrection is truly tied to faith.”

“Don’t be nervous, the situation hasn’t deteriorated to that extreme yet.”

Wang Ping rolled his eyes and spoke.

“Based on my glimpses of the future, before the Dark God of Magic appears, the Light Pope hasn’t found a chance to spread the faith. Meaning, he is still in a normal template, not the overgrown state of the future. This is a bit like our first group task with the zombie anomaly, only more troublesome.”

“If we let time slip and he grows beyond our capability to handle, that’s a true dead end.”

“Uh, you’re right.”

Zhang Hu, upon realizing, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, Chen Yao and Qin Tian already understood this, but remained not as optimistic.

Dealing with the Pope, even without his growth, was never easy.

Not to mention, everything was still speculation, lacking verification as truth.